{"id":16327,"date":"2014-10-14T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T19:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=16327"},"modified":"2014-10-15T07:07:51","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T20:07:51","slug":"techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"What<\/a><\/figure>\n

In their hunt for an elixir of immortality, Taoist alchemists discovered gunpowder, sparking an era of warfare defined by the use of firearms. Centuries later, the steam sloop<\/a> Nemesis<\/em>, with her twin 32-pounders, would destroy Chinese war junks in the first opium war, forcing China to cede control of Hong Kong to the British. Innovation that gave China early strategic advantage spread widely, was improved and established an inequality in military power, leaving China on the weaker side of that divide.<\/p>\n

A perception of vulnerability has led China\u2019s leaders to adopt an enthusiastic and nationalistic approach to technological development. Since Mao\u2019s \u2018two bombs and one satellite\u2019<\/a> project, China\u2019s technocrats have anticipated that a focus on innovation will produce breakthroughs that underwrite China\u2019s rise and, importantly, mitigate attempts by others to abort their ascent. Last month Premier Li Keqiang in an address<\/a> to the Summer Davos Forum stressed, \u2018massive entrepreneurship and innovation by all will generate enormous power\u2019\u2014the \u2018golden key\u2019 for China. In August, President Xi Jinping made a similar statement, saying<\/a> that \u2018China must take the opportunity to lead a new wave of global technological competition.\u2019<\/p>\n

Nationalism in China\u2019s technological development picked up pace after the introduction of two key policies: the medium- and long-term program for science and technology development in 2006, and the \u2018strategic emerging industries\u2019 initiative in 2010. Hu Jintao was the paragon of tech innovation, and his \u2018scientific development concept\u2019 set the tone for today\u2019s obsession. In areas such as renewable energy, China has focused on what Andrew Kennedy at the ANU calls \u2018pragmatic techno-nationalism\u2019<\/a> (PDF), with policies designed to favour domestic firms while retaining close collaboration with international partners. That approach balances necessary reliance on foreign technology and investment with China\u2019s desire to have its own breakthrough moments.<\/p>\n

In the high-tech sector, there\u2019s been growing suspicion about China\u2019s willingness to comply with the norms of the international market-based economy. China has been accused<\/a> of discriminatory policies and \u2018pulling the rug\u2019 from under foreign companies in an attempt to bolster the fortunes of indigenous industry. Adding to those concerns are predatory trade practices<\/a> and alleged IP theft via cyberattacks. A recent US Chamber of Commerce report<\/a> (PDF) on China\u2019s anti-monopoly law found that \u2018China appears promoting industrial policy goals and boosting national champions, even at the expense of competition\u2019\u2014in violation of WTO antitrust law.<\/p>\n

True, most states have their own history of discriminatory industrial policies, and China is understandably sceptical about foreign high-tech products that could undermine its national security. (The Central Military Commission has recently issued guidelines for the PLA to develop indigenous information security.) But immediate trade and diplomatic disputes mask a deeper dilemma for long-term strategic stability: the competition for innovation will determine the relationship of great powers into the future, particularly as the gap between innovative capability diminishes, and competition turns from \u2018catch up\u2019, to \u2018take the lead\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some of the future\u2019s unknown innovations will be transformational, and there\u2019s no better retrospective case than the internet, which not only spawned new sectors that support economic dynamism, military power and political primacy, but remade whole societies and amplified differences between them. Innovation is disruptive, and often destructive, and great powers invariably see their relative strategic advantage as a function of innovative strength. The expectation that others are innovating will push nations to do the same, producing a development-security race.<\/p>\n

The invisible hand in China\u2019s techno-nationalist desire is a fear that without innovation, it\u2019ll sit stagnant in the ranks of the international order, its once immutable rise will look increasingly shaky, and its vision of great power prestige will be lost. All the while there\u2019s a concern<\/a> that China will never be \u2018innovative\u2019, not least because of the contradiction between a risk-averse party-state chasing disruptive innovation.<\/p>\n

There are limits to a top-down techno-nationalist policy and China is currently supporting flexible arrangements that promote collaboration. In Asia, high-tech partnerships have encouraged a system of technological strength, creating more competition outside of established centres of innovation. In July, Xi Jinping led<\/a> a group of business leaders<\/a> to South Korea, and in September, he wrote<\/a> an op-ed in The Hindu<\/em>, calling for closer ties with India\u2019s IT industry.<\/p>\n

Over the long term, as reliance on foreign expertise becomes less acute, a genuine capability to innovate develops, and competition over the knowledge economy intensifies, Chinese leaders are likely to continue their pragmatic approach. If today\u2019s challenge is to build indigenous innovation champions that can solve China\u2019s development challenges and overcome perceived weaknesses, tomorrow\u2019s challenge will be to showcase those champions abroad for relative gains in power and prestige.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been recent cause to celebrate China\u2019s innovate-or-perish vision. E-commerce company Alibaba listed on the New York stock exchange for the highest valued initial public offering in history\u2014with a market cap to match Scotland\u2019s GDP. \u2018Internet companies are leveraging technology to transform China into a innovation great power\u2019 declared one China Youth Daily<\/em> article. Is this the first spark in China\u2019s next gunpowder moment? No, but it\u2019s the clearest sign yet that continuity in China\u2019s technological development strategy is paying off.<\/p>\n

Simon Hansen<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a research intern in ASPI\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0International Cyber Policy Centre<\/em><\/a>. Image courtesy of Flickr user US Army<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In their hunt for an elixir of immortality, Taoist alchemists discovered gunpowder, sparking an era of warfare defined by the use of firearms. Centuries later, the steam sloop Nemesis, with her twin 32-pounders, would destroy …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":16328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,722,995,332],"class_list":["post-16327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-innovation","tag-techno-nationalism","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTechno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In their hunt for an elixir of immortality, Taoist alchemists discovered gunpowder, sparking an era of warfare defined by the use of firearms. Centuries later, the steam sloop Nemesis, with her twin 32-pounders, would destroy ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-13T19:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-14T20:07:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Simon Hansen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Simon Hansen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426,\"caption\":\"What will be China's next gunpowder moment?\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/\",\"name\":\"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-13T19:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-14T20:07:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/eada7b8852348a8965f94bb6086ad45a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/eada7b8852348a8965f94bb6086ad45a\",\"name\":\"Simon Hansen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe0cd200df5391d8c047b6d99c49aaf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe0cd200df5391d8c047b6d99c49aaf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Simon Hansen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/simon-hansen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist","og_description":"In their hunt for an elixir of immortality, Taoist alchemists discovered gunpowder, sparking an era of warfare defined by the use of firearms. Centuries later, the steam sloop Nemesis, with her twin 32-pounders, would destroy ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2014-10-13T19:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-10-14T20:07:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Simon Hansen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Simon Hansen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/4928621884_34ec946f69_z.jpg","width":640,"height":426,"caption":"What will be China's next gunpowder moment?"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/","name":"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2014-10-13T19:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2014-10-14T20:07:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/eada7b8852348a8965f94bb6086ad45a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/techno-nationalism-in-chinas-rise-the-next-gunpowder-moment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Techno-nationalism in China\u2019s rise: the next gunpowder moment"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/eada7b8852348a8965f94bb6086ad45a","name":"Simon Hansen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe0cd200df5391d8c047b6d99c49aaf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fe0cd200df5391d8c047b6d99c49aaf5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Simon Hansen"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/simon-hansen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16327"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16354,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16327\/revisions\/16354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}